Parker's Blog

This trip is already worlds different from my other solo adventures. I think it’s a bit too early to describe how I feel about these differences but to put it in perspective; time that I did fill with meeting new people is now filled with finding time to wander by myself. Being in the van for the majority of the day sparks an appetite for little bits of solitude. Although, all of us are super comfortable in the van. It smells most of the time and more often than not the jokes are hilariously unsavory. It’s a perfect reminder of home.

We’ve split our time about 50/50 since my last update, camping and in bigger cities. The other three seem to favor camping in order to regroup and re-asses what direction the project, and ultimately the van, are headed…that plus the added bonus of spending time in some incredible locations. I can’t exactly say the same for myself. The camping is unbelievable, I’m actually writing this from a beach on the Oregon coast and not at all upset about it. But I’ve also had a great time exploring Seattle and Portland with friends I haven’t seen in years.

The group dynamic so far is surprisingly fluid, leadership roles will ebb and flow and everyone seems to be ok with that. Having always worked by myself or assisting a head photographer I’m getting used to the idea of handing over the reigns in creative situations. The photo/video/writing part is actually the part where all of us shine, that’s where we’re comfortable and we have each other’s eye to critique. It’s the planning and budgeting and teamwork that swings things a bit, that’s the part we’re figuring out.

As far as the actual project goes we couldn’t be more on point. Aidan and I are feeding off each other creatively and photographing a ton. Madison is also photographing but just posted the first blog post of our trip, and Joel has been filming/editing a good amount in preparation for our first webisode that should be out sometime late next week.

From the Oregon coast we’re planning on continuing south through the redwoods, Arcada and St. Helena and breezing through SF in favor of Santa Cruise and Los Osos, where GoWesty is actually putting us up for a bit in order to do some work on the van. Since we’ll probably be in Los Osos for a few days I’ll try and get another update out from there.